NetGain SEO Expands into a New Facility in Barrie!

NetGain SEO a local web development and graphic design company in Barrie and part of the Busch Group of Companies has expanded into a new facility.  Located in the south-end of Barrie, their new locations showcases a bright open concept office with over 23,000 square feet of space. 

NetGain SEO realized the need for a full service digital marketing agency and has grown to become the largest web development and digital marketing service provider in Simcoe County creating local jobs to support this growth.

Click here for more information.

Google"Get Your Business On-Line" Event - Barrie!

Last month Google's small business marketing team and RBC collaborated with the 
Economic Development Department at the City of Barrie to present to a packed house at Liberty North Banquet Hall in Barrie.  The event was part of Google's road show to educate business owners about the possibilities available to them for their online strategies.  Currently Google enjoys 86% of online search traffic and Google Ad Words and Google Ad Words Express can make a huge difference for small business.  At the end of the event guests were encouraged to speak with the local web masters that had been invited to attend the event and answer those web related questions.  The event proved to be an excellent networking and educational opportunity.

Stigmatized’ Properties Can They Offer Big Bargains

Real estate ad offers 'explosive' deal next to Barrie bomb house

In Canada recently, most notably Barrie, Ontario - CBC reports A real estate agent is defending her ad for an "explosive deal" on the house next door to a bomb-filled Barrie home. 

The Royal Lepage listing, which Ivy Kana said she placed in the Barrie Examiner, reads as follows: 

"AN EXPLOSIVE DEAL!! Only $279,000
28 Virgilwood Cres.

Soon to be BOMB FREE and ready for showings again . . . why not live next to the famous house in Barrie. Neighbours have bonded through this and why not be welcomed into this community. Call now to book your showing!"

The real estate agent said most people have had positive responses to the ad, including the owner of 28 Virgilwood.

"It was a play on words, that's all," said Kana, adding that none of the bombs have hurt anyone. "It was just meant to be catchy to be quite honest."

"The whole ad is just trying to put a better spin on a doom and gloom situation." 

Police announced Thursday afternoon that they'd completed their sweep of neighbouring 30 Virgilwood Cr., where more than 80 explosive devices were found during a murder investigation involving the homeowners.

Neighbours were given the green light to return to their residences after a weeklong evacuation.

Kana's ad was meant to appear after the immediate threat had been diffused.
But on Friday police announced an additional cache of chemicals was discovered in the home's basement and some residents were once again evacuated.

"It's in the paper - it's done," said Kana of the overlap.

"I do apologize sincerely to anyone who was offended by the ad," she said. "We're not malicious people."

Among those unimpressed by the ad wasMichael Loyst, the CBC reader who sent a photograph of it to the CBC Community team. Michael said the pitch was in "poor taste," and wondered if it was "too soon" for such an angle.

But others were amused, and even had kind words for Kana.

"Love the new ad. [It was] clever and well played up. Nice to see some comic relief, hopefully people start to appreciate it too!" said Sadie Patterson on Kana's Facebook page.

Kana stressed that the property is still in a great neighbourhood and that the property owner she works with put his home on the market before the bomb threat investigation began.

"It's sad for the person who has to sell the home, but you have to make the best of a bad situation," she said, stressing that the homeowner thought the edgier angle was "great."

"It's got to be marketed it in a different way now."

Still, in light of the response, Kana said she will be re-thinking the marketing strategy and likely won't run the same ad again.

What do you make of the ad? Would you be interested in a good property deal despite an unattractive neighbour?


Meanwhile...Daily Real Estate News Reports...

Home buyers who can stomach some misfortune in a home’s past may be able to find big discounts. For example, buyers can expect to pay 10 percent to 25 percent off the regular market home price for a stigmatized home, according to real estate consultant Randall Bell of Bell Anderson & Saunders. And depending on how bad the crime was that occurred at the home, the more a home buyer can expect in discount to the price. 

"In large, it all comes down to finding the right discount to entice a buyer to accept the property along with its tainted history," Bell told AOL Real Estate. 

But for some, the crime that happened may be too much to stomach, regardless of the big discount. Some buyers worry about the resale value and what others will think too. Also, homes where crimes took place tend to linger on the market from two to seven years longer than they would without a tainted past, according to Bell. 

For example, a Southern California mansion that was the place where 39 cult members from Heaven’s Gate killed themselves sold for $668,000 two years following the suicides, which was less than half of the $1.6 million list price before the suicides occurred. Also, the home where O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman was killed lingered on the market for two years before selling for $590,000—$200,000 less than the initial asking price. 

However, some buyers say they are willing to overlook a home’s shady past. "It may have a terrible history," says Chris Butler, who purchased a split-level ranch nestled in a forest in Akron, Ohio, that once belonged to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and was the site of Dahmer’s first murder. "But the house didn't kill anybody."

City of Barrie ...Historical Videos and View from 1940's

Scenes of Old Barrie in the 1940's. Filmed by George Wright. Incredible history and footage of Barrie, Ontario, Canada back then!
They're broken down in parts and also available at the Simcoe County Archives

Barrie Home sales continue to climb in June 2012

Barrie Home sales continue to climb in June 2012

Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 516 units in June, up three per cent from year-ago levels.

Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was up by more than the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 314 residential sales in June, five per cent above levels from June 2011.

“Resale housing demand recorded another strong month in June 2012, although the year-over-year gain was considerably more modest than the 21 per cent jump we saw in May,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “A total of 2,555 homes have traded hands so far this year. This is up 14 per cent from the first half of 2011, and marks the second best start to any year on record after 2007.”

The year-to-date average price for all Barrie homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in June 2012 was $301,967, up six per cent from levels at the same time last year.

The year-to-date average price figure for homes sold within the City of Barrie was $286,260. This was a seven per cent increase compared to the same period in 2011.

The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.

The dollar value of all Barrie home sales in June 2012 was $155.3 million, up seven per cent from year-ago levels.

New residential listings were down three per cent from a year earlier to 726 units in June 2012.

Overall supply levels have generally been trending downward since last summer and this trend continued to play out in June. Active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 1,582 units at the end of June 2012. This was down 17 per cent from the end of June 2011.

There were 3.1 months of inventory at the end of June 2012, down from 3.8 months at the end of June 2011. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Sales of all property types in the Barrie region numbered 536 units in June, up six per cent compared to June 2011. The total value of all properties sold in June 2012 was $159.2 million, up nine per cent on a year-over-year basis .

 For more information regarding the Barrie Real Estate Market please visit Investing In Barrie.com

Information provided by: The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®.

The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members .